Article

  • Rafael Nadal (2) vs. Donald Young

    3/17/08 3:49 AM | Cheryl Murray
    - Donald Young should not stand a chance in this match - but if he continues to play like he did in his second round match, he just might have a shot.

    Nadal has not shown good hard court form this year; he has particularly lacked depth of shot on the back hand side. His second round match against Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo was poorly played; he only managed to hit two winners for the entire match. This was partially due to passivity in Nadal's own game, but the swirling wind and Giraldo's overly aggressive game contributed as well. Still, he won easily 6-3, 6-3. Conditions are expected to be far more calm on Monday, which should help the Spaniard assert his game.

    Nadal made the final in Chennai, where he was stomped by Mikhail Youzhny 0-6, 1-6. Then at the Australian Open, he fought and clawed his way into the semifinals before being beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Honestly, it is not Nadal's results that are the issue, but more that his actual level of play. Perhaps most concerning for the Spaniard was his strange loss to Andreas Seppi in Rotterdam, which he lost primarily due to an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration.

    The tennis community is still waiting for Donald Young to have his break-out year. The weight of expectation had been placed on the young American's shoulders since he was in his early teen years. To the disappointment of many, he has come nowhere near living up to these expectations. His first ever ATP win occurred only last year in New Haven, where he beat Amer Delic, but he has been unable to make real inroads since that time. Young had the best win of his career on Saturday, beating another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2. These two left-handers have never met each other before.

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Comments

OH COME ON!
Colombian.

hello , 3/18/08 12:27 AM


good catch.

And Nadal dominated, as expected.

RickyDimon , 3/18/08 1:18 AM


I would have expected Lopez to dominate as well, but Young surprised everyone. It is nice to see Nadal make it through easily though. His loss to Seppi in Rotterdam was a shock.

cherylmurray , 3/18/08 2:28 AM


I thought Lopez would win as well. But it wasn't too surprising considering Lopez was tired from Dubai (apparently Roddick was as well) and Young had no business losing their match at the U.S. Open.

RickyDimon , 3/18/08 6:24 AM



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